Casting with Symbols

Common Symbols

Colours

There are a theoretically infinite number of colour symbols, but the ten most commonly taught are labelled as follows: Black, White, Grey, Brown, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange and Purple.

Creatures

The discovery of creature symbols has been restricted by the need to convey creatures to Kriiza and then keep them immobile enough to allow for proper meditation; for this reason, creatures which are easy to restrain or to tame have been the best objects of study. Both the Human symbol and the Corpse symbol are known to have been discovered, but are not commonly taught to students due to various ethical objections; the symbols for Life and Decay are a little better known. The most common creature symbols are: Dog, Frog, Lizard, Mouse, Snail and Sparrow.

Emotions

The existence of symbols for a wide range emotions has been theorised, but does not yet appear to have been studied in any significant way. This is due not only to the theoretical complexity of emotions, but also to the difficulty of maintaining strong emotions in such a peaceful place as Kriiza. The best-known emotional symbol is that of Calm.

Materials

The discovery of material symbols has depended on which objects have been considered useful enough to study; the following are well-known: Blood, Bread, Bone, Cloth, Ink, Iron, Soil, Steel, Stone, Wax, Wine and Wood. Gold and Silver are considered basic symbols, but novice symbologists are generally not trusted with knowledge of them. Attempts to identify a symbol for Quessa or Quessan Steel have proven unsuccessful.

Nature

The first symbol to be discovered was the symbol for Water; other known nature symbols include Fire, Light, Lightning and Wind. The symbol for Wood does not appear to encompass Tree, but attempts to discover the Tree symbol have so far only resulted in symbols for Plant, Seed and Shrub; the symbols for Flower and Wheat are also known. The symbol for Void is technically considered to be advanced, as there are not many accounts of its discovery, but it is so useful in preventing disastrous results from occurring when a spell misfires that it is taught to almost all practitioners at an early stage of their careers.

Properties

The abstraction of properties make it more difficult to conceptualise those symbols, but the following are considered to be the best-studied of the advanced symbols for properties: Cold, Hot, Large, Small, Spherical and Still.